1. Make a Smart Curriculum Vitae
This is a fundamental tool for everyone to get a job. It’ll represent an advertisement of yourself to be called for an interview. When a visual merchandiser fails to make an effective resume, how could he then land a better visual merchandising job?
2. Present in Interview
Most of the time, applicants fail to communicate their value to the target employer. Although you don’t need to speak like a diplomat but at least you know how answer and interview which will guaranteed you to be hired.
3. Make a Career Plan
A career plan is a blueprint to your career success. It will show you to become a better qualified and assist you make good decisions in times that changes may come in your career.
4. Make Your Own Portfolio
This is a collection of your works, the best samples. The proof of your performance should be found on your portfolio; you can build credibility by showing people the sample of you previous projects because through it, they could presume what you can do for them.
5. Presence in Social Media Professionally
I have known many visual merchandisers online and most of them failed to use the social media professionally. They have their reason about it but if you are serious with your visual merchandising career, you can use the power of social media to bring you better opportunities.
6. Create an Accomplishment Report
Usually, visual merchandisers are not obliged to make an accomplishment report but if you are a visual merchandiser who does your job well yet get unnoticed, you have to do your accomplishment report even if you are not required, then pass it to your head. No one would know what benefits you have contributed to the company if you won’t tell them.
7. Coach
As visual merchandiser, you are expected to know more and better techniques about visual merchandising and it is also part of you role to coach the sale staff about the basics especially the newbie in the retail industry.It is not only an avenue to share you knowledge and skill with your co-workers but it will also lighten your job id there are many staff who know how to do some of common tasks on the visual merchandisers.
8. Plan and Budget
We always hear that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail and if do not budget, you will be out of budget. Planning and budgeting is important for every visual merchandiser to carry through every project. Even daily tasks that are proper planned will make your job run smoothly.
9. Organize and Mange Time
Wherever you may be assigned as visual merchandiser; may it be it in a small store or in mall. The way you organize you things and manage your time always affects you performance. You have to choose to organized or to agonized.
10. Use Google Effectively
The internet has all the information you could ever imagine, from the best things to the worst and Google is the top search engine that could deliver you the accurate if not most related answer to your question.
11. Stay Safe at Work
Safety first because a visual merchandiser who falls on ladder and become injured is surely cannot finish his work. Not only that, some daily tasks of visual merchandisers are more risky than climbing a ladder. That is why extra care is necessary. You work as visual merchandiser to earn a living; don’t let hospitals to take the benefit of that earning.
12. Conduct Research
Trend is always a trend, it is never static. A visual merchandiser should always know what is “IN” and what is “OUT” enable to capture more attention of the customers. Conducting research is the portal to providing better visual merchandising strategies that would suit to the needs of the shoppers.
Basic Technical Skills and Knowledge
Some of these things are perhaps you already know but they are still listed here considering that there are still those who are starting to familiarize them.
13. Use Word Processing Program
This may sound funny but this is the truth, not all visual merchandisers know how to use word processing program. We are now in digital age; typewriters are now founds at the museums.
14. Use Spreadsheet Program
Tables and numbers and best done in a spreadsheet program (like Microsoft Excel). This tool could be effective when you are dealing with reports which need calculation of figures.
15. Use Presentation Program
The better with to communicate with your boss or with your group is to present your project proposal is to use presentation program. You are a visual merchandiser so perhaps you know that visual aids enhance the salability of your idea. This is why you need to know how to use a presentation program.
16. Draw
Whether you will be making a window display design or conceptualizing poster, you would need first pencil and paper to sketch your idea. Aside from that, in time than computers and printers are not available, you have to manually write the prices using marker pens or chalk. The skills in drawing are useful in these cases.
17. Cloth Styling
This is very effective especially when you store has special activities or promotion. Draping — to cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds — is the most known cloth styling technique.
18. Display Products
In whatever form of advertising, it is always important to remember that the product is the king. The same is true with visual merchandising, the effort of visual merchandiser should focus on how to increase the saleability of the products by displaying them attractively. How the products are being presented is very important in retailing.
19. Master Consumer Behavior
To have deep understanding on consumer behavior is an essential part of your job if you the visual merchandising head and every visual merchandiser as well because this would be the basis on how you can create something that will make the consumer react on what you have presented inside and outside the store – something that may fill their needs.
20. Apply Merchandising Standards
Let us remember that visual merchandising is just a part of ‘merchandising’. We may think of ‘setting standards’ be be choking but it is a part of being professional. These are the do’s and don’ts of merchandising or shall we say, code of ethics.
21. Conceptualize Interactive Display
I am not saying that you will be the one to create an interactive window display but if you could, that would bee good. ^_^ To conceptualize an interactive display means to come up with a new interactive display idea.
22. Know Legal and Safety Requirement
To create a display that attracts people without considering legal ans safety requirements is putting yourself is a big trouble. Think about hanging a 50 kilograms of props on a ceiling that has capacity of holding 30 kilograms. Think of making a window display that promotes the use op illegal drugs. What would be the consequences if you going to do that?
23. Lead and Manage People
Don’t think of holding on you current potion. If you will be a good visual merchandiser, you will sure be promoted to lead the group of visual merchandisers in your company soon. Or may find another job which requires you to manage group of workers. Learning how to lead and manage people is the skills that are learned. Have time to acquire them.